Dividend Outlook

I don’t know what most people looking for financial freedom do in the morning. As for me mornings seem to be the best time of the day for me. Everyone else is asleep so it gives me a little bit of extra time. I think that is what financial freedom means to me, the ability to carve out more time. Thinking about financial freedom it seems to be a lot about money, but it really has to do more with time. Time is definitely worth more than money. Anyhow, that is enough of the morning philosophizing.

The real reason I wanted to write was because I was updating my dividend spreadsheet (something I suspect a lot of financial freedom seekers do) and I wanted to put it into writing how my dividends were doing (for posterity). My investments are currently in three different accounts. I have two taxable accounts, a Sharebuilder and a Robinhood account. I also have one non-taxable account, a Great West Retirement account which is run by my employer.

Other than the contributions I make into my Great West account, I don’t really manage it that much. All the funds in there are mutual funds with a mix of bonds. I started that account in my early 20’s putting in $200 a month and I have been slowly increasing my contribution with pay raises. Right now I invest $350 a month in that account. Reviewing the dividend section of that account I received $2,224.57 in dividend payments, or, another way of putting it $185.38 per month.

My other two accounts are taxable accounts. They are all in stock and I actively manage both of those portfolios. I started contributing to those accounts in 2012. In the past I have been seeking mostly growth stocks, but starting last year I have been looking into dividend stocks. I am currently contributing about $300 a month to those accounts (sometimes a little bit more if my side business makes money). I currently own a piece of 16 different companies that produce dividends(ARP, AGNC, CNSL, FPI, FTR, FUN, GE, HAS, LOAN, O, ORC, SNV, SPLS, UL, WIN, YUM). Looking at my spreadsheet I am projecting $241.96 in dividends this year, or, another way of putting it $20.16 per month.

OK, so bottom line, at roughly $205 a month I am no where near financial freedom, but I want to be! To that end I will just keep on contributing. My goal is to eventually produce $1860 in monthly revenue (that is the least I figure I can get by with in California). As you can see I am at about 11% of that goal by way of dividends. Part of the plan also includes growth stocks and reoccurring revenue from some side businesses I have. A long way to go, but at least I have something. It makes me happy to know that I am at least trying to get to my goal of financial freedom.

Disclosure: Long ARP, AGNC, CNSL, FPI, FTR, FUN, GE, HAS, LOAN, O, ORC, SNV, SPLS, UL, WIN, and YUM.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *